A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream was likely written and first performed in 1595 or 1596, and the play has experienced reinvention by directors ever since, in interpretations that use the material to explore class, race, gender, power politics, and the supernatural in cultures across distance and time. 

Key productions have ranged from faithful and authentically Shakespearen recreations, like Harley Grandville-Barker’s 1914 English production, to avant-garde interpretations, like Peter Brook’s landmark 1970 trapezèd production. Dream has been used to challenge apartheid-era laws in the University of Witwatersrand’s 1984 South African production and to examine an aggressively sexual culture in Lidia Zamkow’s 1963 Polish production. The play has been used to illustrate post-colonialism, such as in Baz Lurhmann’s 1993 production of Benjamin Britten’s operatic adaptation, casting the fairies as Indian gods in a liberated country, and to confront gender roles in Yang Jung-Ung’s 2012 Korean production, featuring a gender-reversal in Oberon pursuing a woman with a pig’s head. Shakespeare’s most oft-performed play in the past decade, Dream has been produced around the globe. 

Meanwhile, we encounter Dream upon the release from our own dream, at a precipitous moment when society is reflecting upon what the COVID-19 pandemic has meant and what it means. Having experienced a unique, impossible-to-believe, wondrous experience in the past year-and-a-half, in the breakdown of one’s individual reality, and in transitions that leave us entering a world unlike the one we’ve seen before, we exit the pandemic like exiting a dream. Just as the lovers of Dream do, we are left questioning what happened and conferring with each other. We have all experienced the chaos of the woods in our own lives, where time elides the passing of days into an eternal night. The breakdown of social order, the threats to personal reality, and the aching desire may all ring as familiar. 

But, we are at the eve of waking up from our dream, and I encourage you to take a moment to breathe and “dream of some epiphany”, as American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift articulates it in her song “epiphany”, “just one single glimpse of relief / to make some sense of what you’ve seen.”

– Arushi Grover
B.A. Theatre Studies 2024

Sources

• William Shakespeare. A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Third Series (The Arden Shakespeare Third Series). Edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri. Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2017.
• “What is Shakespeare’s Most Popular Play?”, Priceonomics.com.

Dramaturgy Website

Learn more about the cultural, historical, mythological, and biographical context that shaped the creation of this production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Explore the dramaturgy materials that the production team and cast used during the rehearsal of this play.

Sam Osheroff (Director) is an assistant teaching professor of Theatre performance faculty at Penn State. He is an actor, writer, director, and educator who holds an M.F.A. in acting from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training. Sam has performed and directed in New York City as well as regional venues throughout North America and in Argentina and Brazil. He has held artistic Directorships at the Pensacola Shakespeare Company and at Riverside Theater in Iowa City, Iowa. Sam has taught Acting and Directing technique at The University of West Florida, Southern Oregon University, The University of Michigan, and, most recently, New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida.

Mary Rose Valentine (Assistant Director/Helena Understudy) (she/her/hers) is beyond thrilled to be the assistant director and Helena understudy for A Midsummer Night’s Dream! She is a third-year Theatre Studies major from State College. Mary Rose studied Shakespeare with the American Shakespeare Center through their summer programs, and is currently the vice president of Statespeare, Penn State’s new Shakespeare-centered student organization. Mary Rose served as dramaturg on She Kills Monsters, Spamalot, Romeo and Juliet: The Radio Play, and Headspace, and performed in Songs of Protest and the #HereToo Project. “Our true intent is. All for your delight,” (V.i.120).

Kris Danford (Voice/Text Coach) is an associate professor of voice and speech. She came to Penn State from the University of Michigan and has previously held appointments at Southern Oregon University, University of Iowa, and the University of West Florida. Kris’ professional work as a voice, text, and dialect coach includes coaching at theatres such as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, American Stage, and Urbanite Theatre. As a professional actor, she has appeared at regional theatres around the country, including Asolo Repertory Theatre, Riverside Theatre, and Ashland New Plays Festival. In the realm of research, she is currently leading a multidisciplinary research study that utilizes theatre-based voice training as a potential tool for women in childbirth. Kris holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from SUNY Fredonia, an M.F.A. in Acting from the FSU Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, and is a certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework.®

Erik Raymond Johnson (Fight/Intimacy Coach) is an instructor in the School of Theatre and a graduate of the M.F.A. in Acting program at Penn State. He has worked as an actor on-camera, and regionally and internationally on stage. Favorite past roles include Jack in Race, Chris in All My Sons, and Adam in Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged. As a fight choreographer and movement coach for theatre, Erik has choreographed multiple shows for professional, academic, and community theatres. Erik is certified SAFD, a certified martial arts instructor, a lifelong practitioner of multiple forms, and a proud member of Actors’ Equity, SAFD, and ATME.

Beatriz Chung (Scenic Design) is a Peruvian scenic designer and illustrator who received her bachelor’s degree in sculpture from Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru. She has twelve years of experience working with different theatre companies in Peru and Chile as a set designer. She is currently working towards her M.F.A. in Scenic Design at Penn State. Credits include prop master and puppet designer for The Lucky Boy, directed by John Simpkins at Penn State Downtown Theatre; and projection designer for The Last Five Years, directed by Jennifer Delac at the Playhouse Theatre.

Zandra Siple (Costume Designer) is a second-year M.F.A. candidate in Costume Design from Vermontville, Michigan. Zandra received her B.F.A. in theatre: design and technology, with an emphisis in costume design from the Western Michigan University in April 2020. She is an experienced costume artisian, having worked for several companies, including Farmers Alley Theatre, Timber Lake Playhouse, Twinbolt Media and contiues to work as a costume designer and maker at Penn State. Her previous credits include the costume design advisor for Dryland (2021, SOT), assistant costume designer of the Moving Forward: Dance Concert (2021, PSCS) costume designer for Lost in Yonkers (2020, Farmers Alley Theatre), Restoration Comedy (2020, WMU), Gem of the Ocean (2019, WMU), and Into the Woods (2019, Timber Lake Playhouse).

William C. Kenyon (Lighting Designer) serves as Head of the Lighting Design program in the School of Theatre at Penn State. An active professional designer, Prof. Kenyon has designed over 180 plays, operas, and dances, along with over a dozen national and international tour seasons with several theatre & Dance companies. Prof. Kenyon has been involved in Native American theatre and dance for over 15 years, serving as resident LD for the American Indian Dance Theatre, and was involved in the complete reimagining of “Unto These Hills”, a massive outdoor spectacle celebrating the history of the Cherokee Tribe. Prof. Kenyon serves as the Chair and US Delegate to the OISTAT Education Commission, is the Curator of the Penn State Theatre Lighting Archive, serves as the Chair of USITT’s History & Heritage Committee, and has served as an advisor to the USITT@PSU Student Chapter since it was started in 2005. Prof. Kenyon is the author of “Theatre & Stage Photography,” a new book addressing the challenges of photography for live performance.

Riley Allsop (Associate Lighting Designer) is a third-year B.F..A Design and Technology major with a dual-emphasis in Lighting Design and Technical Direction. For this Centre Stage season, he served as the production electrician for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and assistant technical director for The Wild Party. This summer, he was the lighting designer and technical director for A Chorus Line, and lighting designer for I Do! I Do! at Interlakes Summer Theatre in Meredith, New Hampshire. He would like to thank his team, William, Ken, Gib, Quinn, and Valentine, for everything they have done to make this show happen.

Jonathan Langberg (Sound Designer) a senior studying both lighting and sound design from Milford. He is the director of production for the Movin’ On 2022 Music Festival, and the vice president of the Penn State USITT Chapter. Previous Centre Stage credits: A Year with Frog and Toad (sound designer), Romeo and Juliet (sound designer), She Kills Monsters (sound designer), Angels in America (production audio), Spamalot (master electrician), The Wild Party (master electrician), Cabaret of Many Colors (video editor), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (projection designer).

Arushi Grover (Dramaturg) is delighted to be serving as dramaturg for Penn State Centre Stage; she previously served as dramaturg for The Last Five Years. Previous credits also include All in the Timing (co-director), To My Beloved (asst. director), Edges (asst. technical director). She is a second-year student studying Theatre Studies, English, and Comparative Literature at Penn State.

Maria Papadopoulos (Production Stage Manager) is a fourth-year B.A. student studying Stage Management and Scenic Design, from Andover, Massachusetts. She is very excited to be the production stage manager in this challenging space. Previous credit includes assistant stage manager on Merrily We Roll Along, stage manager on The Reunion, properties manager on The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-Time, and assistant stage manager on She Kills Monsters.

Abigail Vanderbrul (Assistant Stage Manager) Abby is a second-year B.F.A. Stage Management major and is so excited to have the opportunity to work on this show! She would like to thank her friends and family who have always supported her theatrical endeavors and everyone who has helped theatre return after the shutdown. Abby’s former roles at Penn State include production assistant on Moving Forward: Dance Concert and assistant stage manager on Fun Home.

Sam Forest (Assistant Stage Manager) is a second-year B.F.A. Stage Management major from Princeton, New Jersey. Previous Penn State credits include A Chorus Line and Headspace. Sam would like to thank Maria, Abby, and Gailyn for their support and hard work.

Clare Cawley (Technical Director), (she/her) is a fourth-year Technical Directing major in the School of Theatre. Past Productions include technical director for Moving On Dance Concert (Centre Stage), head carpenter for Clue the Musical (Weathervane Playhouse), crew for Angels in America (Centre Stage). She would like to thank her TD team for their hard work putting on this incredible show!

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